Multi-function exercise treadmill

ABSTRACT

A multi-function exercise treadmill includes a tread belt driven by an electric motor; an underlying frame including two front uprights, an intermediate upright with the electric motor secured thereto, two side rails with the tread belt rotatably disposed therebetween, two cross rails each interconnecting the front uprights and secured to the intermediate upright, a rack disposed on the intermediate upright and including a plurality of cavities configured to place a plurality of dumbbells therein, and a plurality of pairs of bars disposed on the intermediate upright; a massaging strap driven by the electric motor; and a plurality of rally ropes each having one end secured to the cross rail.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to power driven treadmills and more particularlyto a multi-function exercise treadmill capable of allowing a user to doone of a plurality of exercises different from walking or running on atread belt.

2. Description of Related Art

Exercise treadmills are widely used in fitness centers and homes.Typically, a user may walk or run on a motor driven tread belt whilestaying in the same place. The exercise is similar to walking or runningon a road. But it increases about one third of a distance in comparisonwith walking or running on the road. Further, more energy is consumed incomparison with walking or running on the road in terms of the samedistance.

However, a user can only walk or run on the tread belt of theconventional exercise treadmill while exercising (i.e., having a singlefunction). Further, the conventional exercise treadmill is not adaptedto join other exercise machines to implement as a multi-functionexercise treadmill. Further, the conventional exercise treadmill is notadapted to take types of exercise equipment. This is very inconvenientin use. People are gradually not satisfied with the conventionalexercise treadmills.

Thus, the need for improvement still exists.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems of theconventional art including being single function, being not adapted tojoin other exercise machines, and being inconvenient in use by providinga multi-function exercise treadmill having novel and nonobviouscharacteristics.

To achieve above and other objects of the invention, the inventionprovides a multi-function exercise machine comprising an electric motor;a tread belt driven by the electric motor; an underlying frame includingtwo front uprights, an intermediate upright with the electric motorsecured thereto, two side rails with the tread belt rotatably disposedtherebetween, a rack disposed on the intermediate upright, the rackincluding a plurality of S-shaped cavities configured to place aplurality of dumbbells therein, and a plurality of pairs of barsdisposed on the intermediate upright; a massaging strap driven by theelectric motor; and a plurality of rally ropes each having one endsecured to the underlying frame.

Preferably, the underlying frame further comprises a plurality of crossrails each with one end of the rally rope secured thereto, each crossrail having two ends secured to the front uprights respectively.

Preferably, the cross rails are bent bars and there are furthercomprised of two fastening plates for securing two ends of the crossrail to the front uprights respectively.

Preferably, each fastening plate includes a threaded hole so that athreaded fastener is configured to drive through the threaded hole ofthe fastening plate into the front upright to secure the cross rail andthe front upright together.

Preferably, the underlying frame further comprises an intermediateupright, a support plate disposed on a top end of the intermediateupright, and a plurality of pairs of bars disposed on the intermediateupright.

Preferably, the support plate includes a plurality of first threadedholes, the underlying frame further comprises a base plate including aplurality of second threaded holes, and a plurality of threadedfasteners configured to drive through the first and second threadedholes into the electric motor to secure the support plate, the baseplate, and the electric motor together.

Preferably, there are further comprised of two fastening members foroperatively connecting two ends of the massaging strap to the electricmotor respectively, and two length adjustment members provided at leftand right portions of the massaging strap respectively.

Preferably, there are further comprised of a plurality of foam sleeveseach disposed on the bar.

Preferably, the massaging strap includes a plurality of massagingmembers.

Preferably, the fastening members are hollow, triangular and thefastening members are configured to rotate.

The invention has the following advantageous effects in comparison withthe prior art: It is multi-functional. It has a simple structure. Theunderlying frame has many frame elements capable of exercising feet,providing a space for placing dumbbells, releasably secured to the rallyropes, or releasably secured to the massaging strap. It eliminatesproblems including being single function, being not adapted to joinother exercise devices, and being inconvenient in use associated withthe conventional exercise treadmill.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionwill become apparent from the following detailed description taken withthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multi-function exercise treadmillaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the underlying frame;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the intermediate upright and otherjoined components;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the massaging strap, the fasteners, thelength adjustment members, and the electric motor;

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are perspective views of three embodiments of thelength adjustment member respectively; and

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are perspective views of three embodiments of themassaging member respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6C, a multi-function exercise treadmill 1 inaccordance with the invention comprises the following components asdiscussed in detail below.

An underlying frame 3 includes two front uprights 31, an intermediateupright 32, two bent cross rails 33 each having an intermediate portionsecured to the intermediate upright 32 and either end secured to thefront upright 31 by driving a threaded fastener through a threaded hole71 of a fastening plate 7 into the front upright 31, two side rails 34,a bent hand rail 35 mounted on top ends of the front uprights 31, and acontrol panel 36 mounted on an intermediate portion of the hand rail 35.

The underlying frame 3 further comprises a rack 5 mounted on theintermediate upright 32 between the cross rails 33, the rack 5 includinga plurality of S-shaped cavities 6 with dumbbells 17 placed therein, anda plurality of pairs of bars 12 mounted on the intermediate upright 32under the rack 5. A plurality of foam sleeves 4 each is mounted on thebar 12. A user may hook his or her feet on the foam sleeves 4 forexercising (e.g., doing push-ups).

An electric motor 16 is secured to the hand rail 35 under the controlpanel 36. A massaging strap 14 is driven by the electric motor 16. Atread belt 2 is rotatably mounted between the side rails 34 and drivenby the electric motor 16. A user may run or walk on the tread belt 2 forexercising. Two rally ropes 13 each has one end releasably secured tothe cross rail 33.

A support plate 8 is mounted on a top end of the intermediate upright 32and includes a plurality of threaded holes 11. A base plate 9 includes aplurality of threaded holes 10. The support plate 8 and the base plate 9are secured together by threading. The base plate 9 is secured to theelectric motor 16 by means of a plurality of threaded fasteners 19.

The massaging strap 14 has two ends operatively connected to a motorshaft (not shown) of the electric motor 16 by means of two hollow,triangular fasteners 15 respectively. Two length adjustment members 20are provided at left and right portions of the massaging strap 14respectively. The massaging strap 14 includes a plurality of massagingmembers 18.

A user may use the length adjustment members 20 to adjust length of themassaging strap 14 prior to use. The length adjustment members 20 may beone of a plurality of forms as shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C. Themassaging members 18 are releasably mounted and may be one of aplurality of forms as shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C.

It is noted that the hollow, triangular fasteners 15 ensure that themassaging strap 14 does not disengage from the electric motor 16 inoperation. Further, the hollow, triangular fasteners 15 can be rotatedin an angle between 0 and 360 degrees.

The massaging strap 14 is capable of massaging any desired body parts.Preferably, the massaging strap 14 is made of flexible material and isdurable.

A Bluetooth MP3 player can be connected to the control panel 36 so thata user may do exercise while listening to music played by the BluetoothMP3 player.

The invention has the following advantageous effects in comparison withthe prior art: It is multi-functional. It has a simple structure. Theunderlying frame 3 has many frame elements capable of exercising feet,providing a space for placing dumbbells, releasably secured to the rallyropes 13, or releasably secured to the massaging strap 14. It eliminatesproblems including being single function, being not adapted to joinother exercise devices, and being inconvenient in use associated withthe conventional exercise treadmill.

While the invention has been described in terms of preferredembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multi-function exercise treadmill, comprising: an electric motor; a tread belt driven by the electric motor; an underlying frame including two front uprights, an intermediate upright with the electric motor secured thereto, two side rails with the tread belt rotatably disposed therebetween, a rack disposed on the intermediate upright, the rack including a plurality of S-shaped cavities configured to place a plurality of dumbbells therein, and a plurality of pairs of bars disposed on the intermediate upright; a massaging strap driven by the electric motor; and a plurality of rally ropes each having one end secured to the underlying frame.
 2. The multi-function exercise treadmill of claim 1, wherein the underlying frame further comprises a plurality of cross rails each with one end of the rally rope secured thereto, each cross rail having two ends secured to the front uprights respectively.
 3. The multi-function exercise treadmill of claim 2, wherein the cross rails are bent bars, further comprising two fastening plates for securing two ends of the cross rail to the front uprights respectively.
 4. The multi-function exercise treadmill of claim 3, wherein each fastening plate includes a threaded hole so that a threaded fastener is configured to drive through the threaded hole of the fastening plate into the front upright to secure the cross rail and the front upright together.
 5. The multi-function exercise treadmill of claim 1, the underlying frame further comprises an intermediate upright, a support plate disposed on a top end of the intermediate upright, and a plurality of pairs of bars disposed on the intermediate upright.
 6. The multi-function exercise treadmill of claim 5, wherein the support plate includes a plurality of first threaded holes, the underlying frame further comprises a base plate including a plurality of second threaded holes, and a plurality of threaded fasteners configured to drive through the first and second threaded holes into the electric motor to secure the support plate, the base plate, and the electric motor together.
 7. The multi-function exercise treadmill of claim 1, further comprising two fastening members for operatively connecting two ends of the massaging strap to the electric motor respectively, and two length adjustment members provided at left and right portions of the massaging strap respectively.
 8. The multi-function exercise treadmill of claim 5, further comprising a plurality of foam sleeves each disposed on the bar.
 9. The multi-function exercise treadmill of claim 7, wherein the massaging strap includes a plurality of massaging members.
 10. The multi-function exercise treadmill of claim 7, wherein the fastening members are hollow, triangular and the fastening members are configured to rotate. 